NuView Systems Payroll and HR Software Review

An Independent NuView Payroll and HR Software Analysis

Offering a system that runs off of single-tenant architecture, the NuView Payroll/HR system is organized into software modules much like that of similarly-situated systems—deployable through either a licensed or hosted option. As well, a basic data repository module (in NuView’s case the HR & Benefits Administration component) is needed before successive modules can be utilized. That said, once established, each of the elements listed below can be leveraged as stand-alone solutions.

Payroll
Though not vastly different from other systems such as Ceridian and Ultimate, NuView’s Payroll module offers options that range from simple to complex via a secure and integrated HR/Payroll solution. NuView’s offering is available as a hosted, in-house, or 3rd-party integrated solution; but as any cursory review of the system show, very few differences actually exist between the Hosted and In-house packages. The two major exceptions to this rule are a) organizations can process their payroll according to their own schedule versus with the In-house package; and b) the Hosted package allows for "real-time, no batch" payroll. Aside from these differences, both solutions have strikingly similar capabilities; including the ability to self-file taxes or interface with a tax filing service; maintain multiple State & Local earnings (and taxes) by employee; access multiple pay rates by employee; audit payroll data (and correct errors) before checks are printed; print manual checks (and process expense reimbursements) on demand; and process the current year’s payroll before the prior year is finished. On top of this, both packages also provide multiple payroll data entry options (an incredibly useful and underrated tool); access to the prior year’s pays, taxes and deductions; full integration with NuViewHR (in real-time and without the need for duplicate entries); and the capability to interface with GL (General Ledger) systems and 3rd-party time-keeping for advanced labor tracking and job costing.

NuView’s Payroll Service Bureau on the other hand addresses payroll needs in an entirely different context—focusing on handling complex payroll needs while providing flexibility and control to those organizations that opt for this solution. More specifically, this option offers the same benefits and full integration with HR and Benefits Administration, Compensation, Time Entry, and Reporting/Metrics that the abovementioned packages do, but adds on to those functionalities by providing Employee and Manager Self-Service portals; end-to-end tax filing services for federal, state, and local taxes; handling of compliance updates; and a full suite of standard reports, along with built-in tools for ad hoc reporting needs.

HR & Benefits Administration
As mentioned above, functionality for this HR software module includes out-of-the-box options for compensating staff, maintaining demographic information, and administering benefits options via data repository. As such, the main purpose for this module is to provide a wide range of company and employee data which is centrally maintained--housing employee specific data such as: emergency contacts, profiles, immigration data, relocations, previous employment, skills/competencies, education, training needs, reviews, discipline history, grievances, absence accruals, certifications/licenses, salary reporting, time off requests, benefits, stock offerings, bonuses, and 401k/403B plans. The system also helps maintain property/asset tracking, compensation structures, COBRA administration, eligibility rules, and various carrier interfaces. Organizations further have the option of searching for employees using a host of pre-defined parameters (e.g. name, employee ID, payroll ID, employment status, job, location or department) or customized searching preferences—a useful option made even more so by display tools that are flexible, intuitive, and fast. Specifically, if a company needs additional fields or tables, NuView’s underlying toolset can quickly and easily add those elements to the database and displayed forms. In turn these items can then be used in reports, searches, and even calculations. Further, for those organizations opting to not leverage the modules of Reporting or Metrics, the HR & Benefits Administration component features a standard report library (including queries for benefit statements, total compensation, and basic compliance reports).

Compensation Management
An advanced salary planning tool that serves to streamline the focal review process, NuView’s Compensation Management module not only supports multiple budget allocation methods, but this solution also happens to be suitable for a wide range of industries—a fact that few other Payroll/HR vendors can lay claim to. Specifically, as it pertains to variances and over/under budgeting, this module (via the Compensation Planner) tracks increases against the proposed budget and displays variances for most if not all pay types. Further, the system has the capability to perform both direct and indirect roll up totals so managers can determine if the company is over or under budget. By then feeding into the organization’s payroll system, approved increases can take place at the completion of any planning processes. Of course, reporting functionalities are also built in, and standard queries in the report library include Total Compensation, Bonuses by Department, Employees Compensated Outside Pay Range, and the ability to generate increase confirmation letters for all employees. In addition, the NuView solution’s Query Builder (and ad hoc Report Writing) tools offer a unique flexibility to gather data on compensation-related issues via modeling, matrices, and other allocation methods.

Employee and Manager Self-Service
Though distinctly separate modules, functionality for the ESS and MSS modules are strikingly similar. For example, within NuView’s ESS module employees can access their personal payroll information; take part in the open enrollment process for benefits (as well as view their benefit statements); record changes in life events; look over and submit performance management documents; submit timesheets and requests for paid time off (PTO); and enroll in training/development activities. Likewise, the company’s MSS module is similarly administrative in nature—featuring capabilities for requisition, timesheet (and PTO), training, and life event change approvals; promotion and salary increases; performance management assessments; and on-boarding initiation. As these capabilities are role-specific however, managers can also run scope-level reports on pre-determined metrics that have an impact on the business unit.